John Clayton
Several times in previous
Dandy Design sections of this journal, we have talked about the
migration of various kinds of life. We have seen that birds, turtles, whales,
eels, caribou, and even some insects accomplish incredible migrations over
great distances. One of the more interesting migratory patterns is that
of the monarch butterfly, which moves from a 40-mile long stretch of mountains
just west of Mexico City to the Great Lakes and back every year. Lincoln
Brower, who is a leading expert on the monarch, has been studying the route
of the monarch and the navigation techniques they must use to make their
incredible journeys.
Brower has been able
to show that most of the monarchs from Mexico make their way from Mexico
to Texas and Louisiana where they lay their eggs and die. The first generation
butterflies that hatch from these eggs reach the Great Lakes where they
reproduce and die. Their offspring head east to the Appalachians and the
East Coast and lay their eggs and die. Their offspring head south to the
Gulf Coast, veer west and go back to Mexico, so it is the fourth generation
of monarchs that complete the trip.
Notice that the monarch
has made a giant circle as a group, with each generation flying in a place
it has never been before. The evidence is that the navigation system that
allows this is magnetically oriented. When the first group of monarchs
begins the journey, the butterflies' magnetic compass, which seems to be
crystals of magnetic material in their bodies, is pointed north. Every
day, it turns about one degree clockwise so that, by the time the butterflies
get to Texas or Louisiana, it is pointing northeast. Their offspring follow
this northeast compass to the Great Lakes, but the compass they pass onto
their offspring is set on east!
When the temperatures
begin to cool and days get shorter, the compass is set on southeast, then
south, and then southwest until they arrive back in Mexico. The one question
Brower cannot answer is, "what sets the compass?" Is it temperature,
length of day, or a genetic predisposition? This research has gone on for
40 years and has given us some incredible insights. We would suggest that
the complexity of the system implies a design for survival given by God
to enable this tropical butterfly to grace all of our country.
This article taken from: Does God Exist?, Mar/Apr 97
|